During times of universal deceit; telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. - George Orwell.

Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime. - Potter StewartThe worst form of inequality is to try make unequal things equal. - Aristotle.Political power comes from physical occupation: not historical rights, not title deeds, not moral rights - only occupation. Those people who occupy a territory determine the nature of the society in that region. - Arthur Kemp.

Excerpt:Rome had no political p arties but its politicians tended to divide into two groups. The alternative to the optimates or “Best Men” was the populares, or “Populists.” Both groups were led by elites and courted the votes of ordinary people, often by offering welfare benefits.

Excerpt:Caesar was not one of the Best Men. Quite the opposite – he was Rome’s greatest Populist, who put together a broad new coalition that rode to power on popular consent and his legionaries’ swords. …Cicero didn’t trust Caesar. . . . Cicero thought Brutus’s optimism about Caesar and the Best Men was ridiculous.“Where would he find them?” Cicero asked rhetorically. “He’s have to hang himself,” because after the blood bath of the Civil War, few Best Men were left alive.

Excerpt:Cicero grieved for the Republic but he recognized that it might not survive. … In 46 B.C. he wrote a correspondent that the Republic was in ruins, at the mercy of force instead of justice. “Liberty,” Cicero wrote, “has been lost.”

Excerpt:Cicero paid Brutus what he considered to be the highest compliment. He said that Brutus was making such progress in his young career that he could become a great orator in the Forum. … As for why Brutus never reached the oratorical heights, the answer was easy: Caesar had a chilling effect on free speech. Flattery replaced frankness, for example, in a speech that Cicero himself gave in 46 B.C. The orator did all he could to flatter Caesar and the “immortal fame” achieved by his “godlike Courage.”